Olivier Masson

Born in Fez, Morocco, Olivier Masson has a degree in hotel administration from Florida International University in Miami. Masson’s career has spanned over 20 years and taken him to six continents. As the regional vice president, Masson oversees Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at Nile Plaza, Four Seasons Resort Sharm El-Sheikh, Four Seasons Hotel Alexandria at San Stefano, Four Seasons Hotel Turkey at Sultan Ahmet, Four Seasons Hotel Turkey at Bosphorus and Four Seasons Hotel Baku. He attributes his success to “hard work and motivation, driven by the ambition to have my own hotel to run.” What is your favorite vacation destination in Egypt and why?  Sharm El-Sheikh is my favorite vacation destination; especially the Four Seasons Resort which I consider the ideal place for my luxury vacation. Of course, the beauty can be found in every aspect, including the place, serenity and top quality in everything. For other vacations, I love the White Desert which is enjoyable to discover on a four-wheel-drive or via my Harley motorcycle. I am planning to spend my coming vacation there; the first spot will be at Abu Simbel followed by the White Desert on my motorcycle. How do you like to spend your vacation?  Egypt has everything you can experience on the same day. You can have cultural, adventure, sports and shopping activities. Simply, it has it all, and most important, its people who are genuinely hospitable. What is your favorite traditional Egyptian food and where (outside your hotel) do you like to go for an enjoyable meal? At your hotel, what is your favorite meal? Mahsi is my favorite Egyptian dish, and I like eating it at my farm in Fayoum. At the Four Seasons Cairo at Nile Plaza, I adore Spice restaurant; it offers the finest Chinese food. It reflects the Chinese tradition in the taste, service and atmosphere and is a unique Cantonese experience in the Middle East. Now more than ever we need to promote tourism in Egypt. What efforts is your establishment making toward this goal? We need to capitalize on the destination and highly promote it. This, of course, won’t happen unless we are totally confident about the safety and cleanliness of the country in general. If you could recommend just one thing an Egyptian should see or do in Egypt, what would it be? I recommend they see the Pyramids; I was really shocked to discover that many Egyptians haven’t had the chance to actually see the Pyramids.